Bride Of Britannia
by NihonBara
Summary: Blurb: When Amelia escaped her forced wedding to the Fae Lord, Arthur Kirkland, she found herself captured by his enemy, the ruthless and cold Prince Ivan Braginski, leader of the human forces. Now she's got as a pawn between two warring sides. Can you spot the truth hidden among the lies? femUS?/ Russia?/ UK?
1. Announcement

**Bride Of Britannia**

After much consideration, I've re-written this story for a more cohesive plot. I hope my long-term readers won't be disappointed with the new opening and direction of the story.


	2. Runaway Bride

**Note:**

When you read this, be suspicious of anything too "convenient". Things are not as they seem. If you are clever, perhaps you can separate the the lies from the truth.

* * *

 **Chapter One**

Runaway Bride

* * *

Amelia pumped her legs, plunging through the trees in a torn wedding dress. The limbs had long ago snatched away her veil. Her heels pounded on wet earth. Her heart hammered.

The Fae Hound closed in, intent on dragging her back to its master, Lord Kirkland. He was her possessive and controlling fiancé who had forced an engagement ring on Amelia's finger. Apparently, "rot in hell" and "go die" were not answers he accepted.

The mist lightened and the sunlight grew stronger. The end of Kirkland's Kingdom was near. Her grip tightened around the oaken wand, pilfered from Kirkland's treasury. Although she could not use magic, Amelia took it just to piss off her husband-to-be.

 _Almost free!_

Then the sound of the hound's paws disappeared and a second later the creature slammed into her back and Amelia flew forward, skidding across the grass and dirt. She tasted blood in her mouth. Before she could claw to standing, the hound pinned her to the ground with one of its massive paws. Claws pierced fabric and flesh.

"Bad, bad dog!" she cried, thrashing and attempting to crawl out from under. "Sit!"

It was worth a shot. Arthur's hounds obeyed his commands, but Amelia did not have the same authority.

Twisting around, she stared up and over her shoulder at the hound's emerald-green eyes, so like the color of Kirkland's. She swung the staff, clubbing at the creature who smelled like carcasses after days left out in the sun. She wanted to gag.

It growled, curling lips back to reveal discolored gums.

"Fetch the stick!" Amelia tried. Although there was no humor to her predicament, she could not help but react this way. There was nothing left to do but laugh at her misery.

The creature bit her forearm and sank its fangs deep. Crying out, Amelia somehow held on to the wand as tears blurred her vision.

"I won't go back," Amelia wheezed.

Green sparks of magic crackled in the air, floating up from the ground. The bastard was opening a portal, one that would send her straight back to the fiancé she had just spent hours escaping. And if she knew Arthur, he would make sure she never got a second chance.

Luminescent lines formed in the shape of a seal beneath them. The air warmed and hummed with building charge. Hairs rose on her skin.

"No," she sobbed, hot tears coursing down her face. "I won't go back. This isn't fair."

A twang, like the snap of a metal string, pierced the air and cut through it with a whir. The hound squealed, blooding splattering across her cheek and nape. Amelia stared wide-eyed as the beast tottered over her with a silver crossbow bolt stuck between its eyes.

Wasting no time, she yanked herself free and backed up a couple feet in shock. Drool and blood leaked from its lower jaw as the glow went out from its eyes and it slumped to the ground, disappearing into a disintegrating mound of black ash until only the crossbow bolt remained.

Amelia pinched her nose, even in death they left behind a bad smell.

She spun around and saw her hero: a tall, broad-shouldered man in a beige scarf and brown coat. His skin was like alabaster and his hair pale-white. Dim figures loomed beyond him, forgotten because she could not tear her gaze away from her savior.

Although human herself, Amelia had lived almost her entire life among the Fae and had never seen human men who looked like this man. Arthur had always claimed human men were ugly and boorish, but this man had a strange handsomeness about him.

Her heart throbbed with a strange sensation and her face warmed.

At first, she did not notice the man reloading his crossbow with another bolt. However, Amelia started to realize from the cold regard in his eyes and the small, childish smile on his pale lips, that saving her was not his intention. That she might have been better off with the hound.

He called something over his shoulder in a language that she could not understand.

Amelia stepped back, wincing when pain shot up her leg. she had twisted her ankle in the fall.

Soldiers came forward, holding up swords and shields. Her heart fell at the sight of the silver grizzly. These men served House Braginski, the enemy of the Fae and Kirkland. They would not help her if they found out who her fiancé was.

"Well, thank you a bunch," Amelia said, flashing a nervous grin. Then she turned and tried to limp away.

The silver band on my ring finger — Arthur's engagement ring — went frigid.

Moments later, she was caught and dragged back before Arthur's worst enemy.

 _Good job, Amelia. Now you've done it. What a pickle this is!_

What if they took me to Ivan Braginski himself?

She would soon find out.


	3. Lucky?

**Chapter Two**

* * *

 _Lucky?_

* * *

Amelia remembered — the tears, the blood, the mud, and Arthur on his knees begging her not to leave. She remembered pausing, tempted to turn back, to forgive. She remembered how he read bedtime stories and cooked for her and his warm hugs.

Amelia could never forget, anymore than she could forgive.

It made her sick to remember that he tore them apart.

So she fled, ignoring his shouts for the others to seize her and drag her back by any means necessary. Humans were not allowed to escape the Fae, and Amelia was not allowed to leave Arthur.

 _Until death do we part._

* * *

Amelia jerked away, gasping and blinking her eyes clear. Strong hands caged her, steadiying her. Confused, her face went red as she realized she shared a saddle with a man, the one whose arms encircled her now as he gripped the reins.

"Easy there," he said with an accent. His voice was higher than one might expect for such a large build. However, there was no tenderness or warmth in his words. "The Hound is dead."

Amelia stared at her wrists, bound together and resting on the saddle horn. The trees and mist of the forest had thinned. Golden sunlight peeked between, warming her skin. She squinted against it, marveling at the light's touch. It had been ages since she felt true sunlight on her skin.

Amelia shifted, craning her head around to peek at him from the corner of her vision. Her hero — the pale man in the beige coat — had an eerie smile plastered on his face. His eyes glittered like opals in the light — did humans have such eyes? — Amelia was not sure. Fae certainly did, but he was not of the Fae.

By instinct, she found herself scooting forward until the saddle horn dug painfully into her front. Amelia wanted to separate her back from his broad chest as much as possible.

"No need to be afraid," he said, leaning forward, breathe tickling the shell of her ear. "After all, I saved you."

Everywhere ached. Amelia felt as though she had been rolled down a hill, into a beehive, and then used a chew toy by a pack of wolves. The only part of her not hurting was perhaps her right toe and left thumb. The silver band — Arthur's engagement ring — was frigid on the ring finger of her right hand. Arthur was livid and aware that his hound had been slain.

She turned away, lips curving in a small smile. There was a silver-lining in everything.

"I know you speak English. I heard you screaming in it earlier," he said, squeezing her forearm, thumb pressing on one of the scratches. She grit her teeth, refusing to cry out. "You are tainted by Arthur."

Amelia went still. He spat Arthur like a curse. It was the most emotion she had heard in his voice so far. If he had a grudge against Arthur, then she was also in trouble.

"What do you want with me?" she asked.

"I am not sure until I know what you are. Who were they forcing you to marry?"

Amelia turned slowly to meet those hooded eyes. The sunlight lit his round face, his prominent nose casting a long shadow across his left cheek. Those lavender eyes gazed at her coldly, the same color as someone else she knew.

Should I tell him the truth?

Amelia dismissed that idea.

"A Fae named Peter," she said, shifting her gaze back to the uneven path. the column of black-armored soldiers marched two-by-two, the ones around them were mounted.

"Why?"

"B-Because… I'm not really sure. They didn't want me to leave."

"Arthur didn't want you to leave." A chill ran up her spine from the emptiness in his voice. "Why?"

The road began to curve left, soon to leave the forest.

"Why am I tied up?" Amelia asked, testing the strength of the ropes. "It hurts."

"It's only temporary. Blame Yao."

Yao? Was that name? Did he mean that Castor from before?

"I didn't know there were ways to kill a Fae Hound," she said.

"There are always _ways_. That bolt was an enchanted one, designed to kill their kind."

It made her a little sad. Although she had not raised that one, Amelia had raised several Fae Hounds from pups. They could be quite sweet if you looked past the whole 'hounds of death and doom' thing.

"Thank you for saving me, but there's no reason to take me prisoner. I'm no threat to you."

"Anything that comes out of the Arthur's Kingdom is a threat to us."

"I'm really not. I'm just an innocent maiden, trying to get to freedom."

He laughed, or more like giggled from the sound of it, an unnerving sound.

"Maybe that's true, maybe it isn't. We will know soon."

"What do you mean? What are you planning?" Amelia bit her lower lip, balling her hands into fists.

"A surprise," he said cheerfully, but it sounded more mocking than full of mirth.

Her skin crawled at the promise in his tone. What terrible thing did he plan?

They emerged from the forest, a rolling meadow opening out in front. She held her hand to shield her eyes for the first time in her life. A small laugh escaped. Amelia had never seen the blue sky and sun like this before, it had been raining the first time she escaped the Unseelie Woods. In there it was always foggy and misty with only glimpses of blue sky and a faded sun.

 _Artie hid this from me_.

The thought made her heart clench with anger. He had betrayed her deeply, even if he did not see it that way.

The air suddenly lightened, as if it had been jelly before and now it was not. The mist vanished entirely, along with that awful weight in the back of her mind. For a moment, she gaped, puzzled by this sudden change.

Behind her, the man sighed in relief. "That's better."

"What happened?"

"We are no longer in Arthur's territory."

Amelia glanced back, staring past his shoulder at the receding edge of the woods. She was free of Arthur's kingdom for the third time in her life. Shifting her gaze ahead, she studied the clumps of tents sprawled out over a meadow. They grew larger and larger as they approached.

She glanced at the banners fluttering above it and the symbol of a silver grizzly on the soldier's tabards. Slowly, a thought began to dawn on her, one that made her increasingly nervous.

"May I ask your name?"

"You may, but I will only give it if you tell me yours first."

"That's not fair."

"You're not one to set terms, my dear."

"A-Amelia," she said. "And yours?"

"Ivan Braginski," he said proudly.

If she had been standing, she would have collapsed. Her heart nearly leapt to her chest. How could this have happened? She had escaped Arthur and run right into the arms of his mortal enemy.

The Winter Butcher had her.


End file.
